NEW YORK: After Virat Kohli, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has also announced his retirement from T20 international cricket after victory in T20 World Cup final against South Africa. Rohit Sharma made the announcement during a post-match press conference where Rohit expressed his emotions and reflected on his career in the shortest format of the game.
“This is my last game as well, no better time to say goodbye to this format. I have loved every moment of this. I started my career for India playing this format and this is what I wanted, I wanted to win the World Cup,” Rohit Sharma stated, visibly emotional after India clinched their first ICC tournament win in 11 years.
The 37-year-old cricketer, who becomes only the third Indian captain to secure a World Cup title across all formats, following Kapil Dev (1983) and MS Dhoni (2007 and 2011), expressed profound gratitude for the opportunity to lead his country to such a significant achievement.
Rohit highlighted his tenure as captain, noting that he took over the leadership of India’s T20 squad after a disappointing campaign in the 2021 T20 World Cup. Under his captaincy, India not only reached the semifinals in Australia two years ago but also made history by winning the T20 World Cup in 2024 without losing a single match.
“This victory brings an end to India’s long-standing ICC trophy drought of over 11 years,” Rohit remarked.
Rohit Sharma’s retirement announcement follows a similar declaration by former Indian captain Virat Kohli, who also confirmed that the 2024 T20 World Cup was his final appearance in the shortest format for India. Kohli, named Player of the Match in the final, emphasized the significance of achieving their goal amidst challenging circumstances.
“This was my last T20 World Cup, this is exactly what we wanted to achieve. One day you feel like you can’t get a run and this happens, God is great,” Kohli had expressed in his post-match remarks.
